英国欲在伦敦东区建新硅谷
More than 100 tiny tech companies have blossomed here in shabby East London, attracted by cheaper rents. But as companies grow, many move to the more prestigious West London. The government wants to change that by creating a tech-cluster, a mini Silicon Valley.
There is a real opportunity to help amazing companies grow up in that area. They develop their authenticity and significance there. And then they don't need to move.
To help, the government is looking at transforming some of the East London Olympic site into a tech and innovation hub after the 2012 Games. And the darlings of the Silicon Valley have pledged to support. The likes of Cisco, Intel, Facebook, Google and Qualcomm say startups in East London can now get access to the expertise of these one-time startups.
We are looking forward to having an office nice in the nice shiny Olympic Park once opened there and there is nice shot all to work.
I think we need to bring a lot of technology companies together, something really magical happens. They are able to share ideas. The tech guys can go and solve complex problems together.
But it's not just about location. Doing business in London is not easy compared to Silicon Valley.
The founders of Google have said they could have never hoped to start their company in Britain.
From the lack of super fast broadband to pre Internet laws on copyright, intellectual property and patterns, the Prime Minister admits Britain has a lot of impediments to creating its own Silicon Valley. He heard from one firm they just fired 7 employees because of a lack of funding.
I mean for Christ sake, this is London. This is the capital of international finance. If we can't do better at getting money into start-up ventures and into the businesses of the future, then really we are not succeeding.
30-year old Australian David Caldwell has another problem, trying to get a visa. "To say I have zero income and I have been using savings from my past work is not very convincing for the migration authorities. Whereas in the US, there is more flexibility if you are starting a new business. You need a modest amount of cash to set up a foreign office."
The Prime Minister says he wants to create a new entrepreneur visa to keep people from moving to Silicon Valley. Nobody here pretends that these narrow London streets will rival Silicon Valley. But the Prime Minister says with so many innovation centers being created around the world, especially in developing nations. Why shouldn't London be able to get a chunk of that innovation as well?
Jim Bolden, cnn, London.
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